Nestled in her Beastmaster's arms, Fire Fang Dog felt safe enough to gather its courage and turn to look in the direction from before.
"Yap!"
At a glance, Fire Fang Dog's fur stood on end.
It was gone!
Realizing what Fire Fang Dog was thinking, Qiao Sang was rather speechless.
Who would be scared of their own Shadow Clone?
Then again, Fire Fang Dog probably had not realized that it was its own Shadow Clone.
Research showed that many pet beasts learned skills without realizing it themselves.
Some learned them naturally through accumulated time and practice, while others were stimulated by external factors, triggering the energy within their bodies and suddenly mastering a skill.
Just a few days ago, a competition in the Lianbo Region had sparked a minor civil compensation dispute after a pet beast suddenly learned and released a skill.
Mr. Wang from Yue City had brought his Lei Scarlet Seed to watch the match from Area B, Row 21, Seat 16.
Perhaps the match had been too exciting. Lei Scarlet Seed got worked up, mobilized the energy in its body, unconsciously learned the skill Sleep Powder, and released it, causing more than a dozen spectators in Rows 20, 21, and 22 of Area B to fall asleep and miss the entire match.
Afterward, Mr. Wang was only willing to compensate them for their ticket costs. However, some people had come all the way from other regions and demanded compensation for emotional distress, travel expenses, lodging costs, and other fees.
Naturally, Mr. Wang refused, and the stalemate made the news.
Fire Fang Dog had similarly learned a new skill unconsciously due to outside influence. The Spark it learned last time had been the same way.
Now that Fire Fang Dog had been frightened, the energy within its body became unbalanced, causing the Shadow Clone it had only recently learned and was still unfamiliar with to disappear.
But Fire Fang Dog mistook it for a supernatural incident. The horror movie it had watched some time ago had clearly left a deep impression on it.
"Yap yap yap!"
"Yap, yap yap!"
"Yap!"
Fire Fang Dog pointed with its paw toward where the Shadow Clone had vanished, gesturing frantically at Qiao Sang.
"That was your own Shadow Clone," Qiao Sang explained helplessly.
"Yap?"
Fire Fang Dog's gestures abruptly stopped, confusion shining in its pitch-black eyes.
"Congratulations. You learned a new skill," Qiao Sang said with a smile.
Fire Fang Dog understood.
It froze for a moment, then began sensing and adjusting the energy within its body.
A Fire Fang Dog identical to itself instantly appeared by its Beastmaster's feet. Even its fur, which had been messed up from dodging the balls earlier, was exactly the same.
"Yap!"
Fire Fang Dog was thrilled. It immediately jumped from Qiao Sang's arms and circled its Shadow Clone, inspecting it without pause.
Having learned a new skill, Fire Fang Dog forgot all about continuing its dodgeball practice. Naturally, Qiao Sang did not bring it up.
As they left the Baseball Training Hall and passed the pet beast rehabilitation center, Qiao Sang felt a little regretful.
If she had not just lost 5,000 Alliance Coins last night, she definitely would have taken Fire Fang Dog inside for a proper chance to relax today.
After returning home, Qiao Sang turned on her computer and searched for streamers famous for teaching pet beast massage techniques.
She randomly clicked on a streamer who was live, called Fire Fang Dog over, and began massaging it while copying the techniques demonstrated on the stream.
So what if they could not afford to go to a pet beast rehabilitation center? She could do it herself!
"Does it feel good?" Qiao Sang asked gently.
"Yap."
Fire Fang Dog answered against its conscience.
It lay on its side, its head facing the livestream.
On the screen, a tall, powerfully built man was massaging a thick-skinned Tusk Mountain Pig.
The Tusk Mountain Pig let out comfortable grunts from time to time.
Fire Fang Dog watched the stream, then felt the pressure of its Beastmaster's massage on its body. It could not help feeling that something was off...
The next morning.
6:10 a.m.
Qiao Sang appeared in the living room with dark circles under her eyes. She looked around and saw that her mother was still asleep in her room.
Well, it really was a little early...
Last night had been the day of another Interstellar Cup match she had bet on.
Remembering how she had been unable to sleep after losing the match the day before, she had deliberately resisted watching last night, afraid that losing again would leave her sleepless and affect her mood for Saint Water High School's Special Enrollment Exam today.
But the more she thought about it, the less she could sleep...
One moment, she wondered how the Interstellar Cup match was going. The next, she thought about tomorrow's Special Enrollment Exam. She had stayed awake until two in the morning before finally falling asleep.
With so much on her mind, she had slept late and woken early. Her alarm had not even gone off before she woke up naturally.
Qiao Sang listlessly prepared breakfast while Fire Fang Dog waited beside her, wagging its tail happily.
This little guy was certainly energetic...
Not bad. Her hard work massaging it yesterday had not gone to waste.
After breakfast, Qiao Sang left a portion for her mother in the pot and headed for the subway station.
Saint Water High School was located in Bei Dian District of Hanggang City, far from Qiao Sang's area.
Taking the bus would require changing routes four or five times, but Subway Line 2 went there directly.
Saint Water High School.
Four or five people were scattered across a row of benches beside the open-air grounds.
"Qin Wen, is Luo Qian not here yet?" asked a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a large belly.
A middle-aged man with a beer belly usually gave people an immediate impression of being greasy.
Yet this man had slicked-back hair that revealed the contours of his features, and the calm aura he exuded made one feel that he might have been quite handsome when he was younger.
"Not yet. I already called to hurry him along. He said he's stuck in traffic," the woman beside him, dressed in professional attire, replied.
"Bullshit. He clearly went partying at some bar until midnight and couldn't get up. He even posted on social media. He doesn't look like a teacher at all," Zheng Guoping sneered.
"You're the one who recruited him to the school," said another man, slowly flipping through a stack of papers.
"Sun Boyi, don't act like you're any better. You voted in favor back then too," Zheng Guoping said unhappily.
"That was because you gave me a Water Condensing Gel Bead and begged me to vote for it," Sun Boyi said blandly.
"You!" Zheng Guoping was so angry that he could not speak.
"All right, all right, stop it. Business first. Are there any promising candidates among this batch of special admissions students?" The middle-aged man with slicked-back hair stepped in to smooth things over and change the subject.
"Any truly promising ones would have been recommended already." Zheng Guoping was still speaking with anger in his voice.
"Actually, there is one." Sun Boyi's gaze stopped on a line of text. "You know Lu Liangye from Tai Tan Middle School, right? He was in the news more than half a year ago."
"That child who awakened on his own just after entering the third year of middle school?" Qin Wen asked.
"Yes, that's him," Sun Boyi replied.
Most children who awakened on their own did so close to the age of fifteen, but Lu Liangye had awakened shortly after entering his third year of middle school at fourteen.
If the High School Entrance Exam for that year had not already ended, if every school's enrollment slots had not been allocated, and if classes had not already begun, Lu Liangye might have been allowed to skip a grade and enter a Pet Beast High School under special circumstances.
"Why wasn't he recommended?" Qin Wen continued.
"They said that after awakening on his own, he barely went to school, so his Academic Scores fell behind," Sun Boyi explained.
Qin Wen understood.
He had probably contracted a pet beast and could no longer stand the boredom of studying all day.
If that was true, he really was a promising candidate. Lu Liangye had contracted a pet beast for over half a year already, so he was definitely stronger than others of the same cohort.
Outside Saint Water High School.
Qiao Sang sat by a flower bed in a daze.
She had come too early.
The gates had not even opened yet...
Before you continue